Crater Lake - September 4, 2008

Crater Lake is one of the most spectacular sights in the USA. It's a national park in southern Oregon.

The Lake is a result of a volcanic explosion about 7700 years ago. A huge 12,000ft mountain exploded and caved into its magma chamber leaving a hole in the ground about 5 miles across and half a mile deep. Over the centuries it has mostly filled with water from snow melt and rain. The result is a spectacular blue lake up to 1900ft deep. It's incredibly beautiful.

I've been wanting to go there for years - ever since I discovered it when flying from San Jose to Seattle. And I wasn't disappointed. We arrived on a beautiful day with temperatures in the mid-70s. That's about as good as you get. The winters have very deep snow - typically about 40 feet. Even in summer it's ofter below freezing point at night.

We did what everybody does - drive round the lake taking photos. It's about 30 miles round the rim road. We stopped for a picnic lunch and of course lots of photos. Before leaving in the evening we went on a ranger led expedition to climb Watchman Peak at Sunset. Simply fantastic. Very hightly recommended.

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